Divya Bharti: The Ageless Beauty of 90’s Era
Born on 25th Feb. 1974, daughter of Om Prakash Bharti, Divya Bharti was all set for her upcoming career in Bollywood and bagged many block buster hits. After her successful career in Telugu movies from the age of 14, she headed towards Bollywood with her first action thriller “Vishwatma” (1992) opposite to sunny doel, chunky pandey, and the veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah. Though “Vishwatma” did not create the expected magic on the box office, but the charming beauty and phenomenal acting skills, listed Divya in the race of top actors of 90’s era. The song “saat samandar paar” was enough to bring her into limelight. The outstanding performance and exceptional beauty of Divya made her way to work with renowned production houses and film banners. Divya Bharti was the only Indian actor of 90’s who completed her ten signed movies in a short duration from 1992 to 1993 as a newcomer, which was a record in the Bollywood during 90’s.
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Stardom in Cinemas
From 1990 to 1992, Divya Bharti was among one of the renowned actors in Telugu movies. She established herself as one the successful actors of south India after which the directors of Bollywood were eager to sign her as a lead and offered major role in their future projects. Then began the journey to her stardom in bollywood. After a week of the release of “Vishwatma” came the movie “Deewana” starring Shahrukh khan and Divya Bharti as the main lead. Her role in the movie was highly appreciated which made this love story, one of the biggest blockbuster in 1992, for which she was awarded the title of “LUX FILMFARE POPULAR FACE OF THE YEAR” and Shahrukh khan was awarded for Filmfare Award for the best Debut (Male). She was preferred by major directors of Bollywood and was ranked third in position after Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit followed by Juhi Chawla, Madhoo and others. Her movies include Balwaan, Dushman Zamana, Dil Aashna Hai, Geet, and Dil Hi to Hai, Shola Aur Shabnam, Dil Ka Kya Kasoor, Rang, and unfortunately her last release “Shatranj” after her sad demise in an early age of 19.
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The movie Shola Aur Shabnam was a remarkable move in her career, as she met Sajid Nadiadwala through her co-actor “Govinda” on the sets. This meeting further developed into a loveable relationship after which she got married to the director, and converted to Islam. It was said that Divya’s career was now going to be on the peak toppling all the talented actors behind, but destiny had planned something very unexpected and unusual for this extremely talented diva.
Untimely Death and Loss
The film industry suffered a major loss on 5th April 1993, as Divya fell off from her balcony during a success party at Versova, Mumbai. She was declared dead as doctors could not revive her from the fatal injuries. Her death is an unsolved mystery for the film industry till date. Sources revealed that it was a cold-blooded murder as she was pushed from the balcony by her husband, Sajid Nadiadwala. However, Divya’s parents had declared it as an accidental death after which the case was closed in 1998. Some sources also reveal that she committed suicide, and some reports declared that she accidently fell down from her balcony under the influence of alcohol. She was further replaced in 14 movies which include Laadla (85% completed by Divya, later replaced by Shridevi), VijayPath, Andolan, Kanyadaan, Kartavya, Yatra, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and much more unnamed projects under negotiation. It was also a major financial loss for the directors as some of the movies were incomplete and the projects were shut down as she was no more. Mr. Talat Jani, the director of movie “Rang” was lucky to complete his movie with Divya, soon after which she left the world. Few scenes of the movie were shot by the help of duplicate and the dubbing artists dubbed her voice. Her last two releases (Rang and Shatranj) was a huge success on the box office. Her characters like Kaajal (Dewana) Kusum (vishwatma), Seema/Shalini (Dil Ka Kya Kasoor, Renu (Shatranj) are iconic and unforgettable.
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The era of 90 is no more prevalent in the current Bollywood scenario, as time and film industry has undergone various changes during these two decades. The actors like Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, are ruling the hearts of youth, and some iconic actors like Rhitik Roshan has changed the Bollywood’s dance style and inspired boys for six pack abs, but the gleam and glitz of 90’s are unforgettable as it had talented actors like Divya Bharti, who was loved by her fans and still remembered as one of the stunning and charismatic divas of Bollywood. Would you like to watch a sequel of her movies? Whom you think can act in the sequel? Please share your valuable thoughts.